Hypodermic syringe



Feb- 3 1959 v M. STI-:INER v 2,871,856

1 HYPonERMIc SYRINGE Filed sept. 6, 1955 2 Sheets sheet l Feb. 3, 1959M. sTElNl-:R

HYPODERMIC SYRINGE Filed Sept.` 6, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 5

Fig. 6'

2,871,856 'Patented Feb.` 3, 1959 are HYPODERMIC SYRINGE MauriceSteiner, Paris, France,

Astra, Apotekarnes Kemiska Pally Application September 6, 1955, SerialNo. 532,656 `Claims priority, application Germany October 27, 1954 8Claims. (Cl. 12S- 216) assignor to Aktiebolaget Fabriker, a Swedish com-The invention relates to an' improved hypodermic syringe.

It is the object of the invention in its broadest aspects to provide asyringe that can be kept for long time in a state ready for immediateuse and may then be used without the need of sterilization. Such 4asyringe is particularly useful for emergency cases in the civilian orthe military elds and may, for instance, constitute a part of anemergency box for factoriesmining works, autocars, sanitary stationsetc. and may also be stored in hospitals for catastrophic incidentscausing a greater number of victims. The syringe may also be keptinnational reserve such as for atomic bomb attacks or similar incidents.The syringe and particularly a special embodiment thereof may withadvantage be a part of the equipment` of the individual soldier in themilitary forces. For this and other military application it is theobject of the invention to provide a syringe that is sturdy and can beused for injection with a simple grip and by the patient himself or anyother personnot skilled in the medical `lield.

For complying with these requirements, which `are quite conflicting, thesyringe of the invention has a number of particularfeatures whichVshould preferably .be employed in combination althoughneach of themisalseful separately without departure from the scope of the invention.

The syringe according to the invention consists of four main parts: atubular body and, and housed therein, a longitudinally movable plunger,a separate collapsible receptacle of plastic material, andaninjection-needle provided with a holder to which it is secured. Thereceptacle shall contain the liquid to beinjected and has a front.

endwhich is puncturableby `the rear end of said needle or possibly aseparate puncturing point secured to the needle holder. Either thereceptacle or the needle holder, with the needle fitted therein, or bothmust` be longitudinally movable in the tubular `body so as to bring:about a puncturing of said front end of the receptacle and establishcommunication between the interior of thereceptacle and the channelofthe `injection needle when the injection isto be made. The injectionis carried out by the pressure exerted by the plunger whenr movedforwardly as by hand or by the force of a spring or the like.

The invention 'will now be described more in detail with reference tosome embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it beingunderstood, however, that the scope of the invention is not limitedbythese examples.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a longitudinal section of an automatic syringe according tothe invention in the loaded state as ready for use and Fig.` 2 is asimilar section of the same syringe after use. Figs. 3 and 4 are endviews of the syringe as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, respectively. Figs. 5 to8 illustrate in the same way as Figs. l to 4 another type of anautomatic syringe.

Two automatic embodiments of the syringe will.now be described whichvcan be operated by the patient himp self or any person not familiarwith the correct handling lil of a hypodermic syringe.

.In Figs. 1-4 a syringe is illustrated which'has to `be operated withtwo hands. The syringecomprises attubular A.body 1 Vwhich consists oftwohollow cylinders 51 and-52 secured to each other by a bayonetcoupling 53 inalgnment so as to form a single tube. A wall 54 haying acentral opening 55 closes the rear-end of -tube vS11-and forms ashoulder in the cylinder 51-and a frontwall 57 closes the front end oftube 52. AV sleeve -58 is secured to the wall 57 at the centre thereofto -form a guide for piece.

the needle which will be explainedhereinbelow. The wall and guide may bemade as by -pressing in a Asingle At the central spot 59 of the-wall\57v.in axial alignment with-thehole of the sleeve 58` the wall materialis so weak as to be easily punctured by the needle at the occasion ofinjection.

In the rear, portion of the tubular .body plunger 19 is slidablymounted.` A` transversal slot 61 is made in the front side of theplunger andfa stern 62 extends rearwardly fromthe plunger so as toproject outside the rear .wall 54. Therearrnost portion ofthestemextending outside .wall 54 has a portion of reduced diameter, Vso

that Vajshoulder 63 will be formed,V A helical .spring v67 is placed inits energetic compressedcondition about lthe stem 62 so as to besupported at its`front end by ajsupf porting surface on plunger `19-andat its` rear end bywall 5a. A washer 65, see also Fig. 4, having acentral hole t @6fm the end of. stem 62, is placed incontact with wall54.V The .washer has two lugs 68 extending oppesitely .intov the hole 66and -a superficial groove 69 extending `.along a .diameteng Theportionofthe stem `62 extending through thewall-54 has` also two `lugs' 71which project ,The pin has an 77. `In order that washer 65 shall notoutwardly in opposite directions. The-lugs 68 andf71 are sopositioned.that in one relative position of the washer V.and thestern as. shown inFigs. 11 and 3 lugs 71coincide withand `are outside lugs 68 so that.`the latter willi-pre- -Nent the lugs 71.from entering the tubularbodyand thus loclethe plunger. standing under the vload of the springf77. .The lugs occupyy only so great a circumferential. portion of hole66 and the stem end, respectively, as to; permit lugs 7l to pass throughhole 66 when the washer 165. is

turned a quarter of a revolution, whereby the plunger is released forforward movement under the` actionjofspring be .turned by misltakeandfor safetys. sake a; pin .72 is `passed througha hole in the end oflstem62 -in alignment with groove 69. `eye 73..in which aribbon -74-.can besecured.

Ay receptacle 5 of, theAV accordion typeis positioned in front ofplunger 19. and-.a transversal rib 81 at vtherear end of the receptacleis engaged bythe slot 61 more or lesssnugly.. The front-portion 82 ofthe .receptacle tapers slightly forwardly and the frontend ofportion'82l is closed by a wall 15 of aA thickness making it feasible tovpuncture it by the rear.; end of the needle as fwill be ex- 4.plainedlater.` .A needle yholder 11 is slidably tted in the `front portion-.52in` rather close proximity tothe front end of ,receptacle 5. The .holder11 has aV .recess 12 shaped to engage the conical front end 82 of thereceptacle and a cylindric recess 84.v at the front side in order-totake upthefsleeve Svfhen the holder is in its foremostposition. An=injection needle 14 is rigidly secured .to the holder 11 at the center.thereof so as to projecta short distance :rearwardly into therecess 12.The main portion ofthe needle projects forwardly andthe tip-thereofrests in the sleeve 58 when the holder is in-its rearmost; position, atwhich there isla small clearancebetween the rear point of needle 14 andthe front wall y15101:' the receptacle.

When `the syringe is to be used pin 72 is first 'pulled out. This cantake place automatically if, for instance, the

syringe is kept in a pocket and ribbon 74 is secured to the pocket orgenerally if the ribbon is fixed to some stationary member at the placewhere the syringe is kept. The pin 72 will then be pulled out when thesyringe is removed from the pocket or keeping place. The syringe is thenplaced with its front end on the spot of the body where the injection isto be made and held firmly against the body with the one hand. Washer 65is then turned a quarter of a revolution whereby stem 62 and plunger 19are released and pressed forwardly with great force by spring 77.Receptacle will thereby be moved forwardly until the front wall abutsthe rear point of the needle 14. Upon further movement the needle holderwill also be moved forwardly and the needle be brought into contact withspot 59 of the front wall 57. It is probable that at this moment therear end of the needle 14 will have punctured wall 1S and liquid fromreceptacle 5 will have entered the channel of needle 14. The conical end82 will engage the walls of recess 12 and the pressure within thereceptacle will seal it against the needle holder. Upon still furthermovement needle 14 will puncture wall 57 and enter into the iiesh of thepatient to be injected. All this will happen quickly and it is diicultto tell exactly when the puncturing of the walls occurs.

In case the spring fails to operate it is nevertheless possible to usethe syringe in case of emergency. The front portion 52 is then separatedfrom the rear portion 51 by opening the coupling 53 and push thereceptacle 5 forwardly by pressing it with a linger or a pencil or asimilar thing as a substitute for plunger 19. The coupling shouldtherefore be located at the rear side of the needle holder and near thereceptacle.

In cases where an injection must be made within a few seconds andparticularly if the operator can with advantage only use one of hishands, the syringe just described will be quite or very difficult tooperate. Figs. 5-8 illustrate a further embodiment of the presentsyringe, which can be manipulated with only `one hand. The generalstructure of this syringe agrees with that illustrated in Figs. 1-4, themain difference being the mode of releasing the plunger. consists of arear tube 51 and a front tube 52, in this case screwed to each other.The rear tube 51 tapers rearwardly to form a cone S8 and is providedwith an inner tube 89 extending forwardly from the rear end coaxiallywith tube 51 to form an annular space 91 between tube 89 and tube 51. Inthe tubular body 1 so formed plunger 19 with the rearwardly extendingstem 62, receptacle 5 and needle holder 11 carrying needle 14 arearranged as in Fig. l, spring 77 being housed in the annular space 91and the tip of needle resting in sleeve 58. Instead of providing apuncturable point in the front wall 57 as shown in Fig. l there is ahole in the wall right through in alignment with sleeve 58 in thepresent embodiment. This hole is sealed by a special cover 97 on theouter surface of the wall.

Stem 62 is locked in the position illustrated by a special lockingarrangement comprising a sleeve 93 slidably mounted on tube 51 andhaving at its rearmost end somewhat liexible tongues 94 extendinginwardly so as to rest i on the edge of the conical end S8 of tube 51.The stem 62 protrudes rearwardly from said conical end 88 and has justoutside the edge of end 8S a circumferential groove 95, into which thetongues 94 penetrate. The tip 96 of the stem 62 will thus serve as ashoulder resting upon the inner ends of the tongues 94. A safety pin 72is passed through a hole in the stem 62 just outside the groove 95 butit is in the first hand the tongues 94 that hold the stem in the loadedposition illustrated. The pin 72 has an eye 73 to which ribbon 74 issecured. This ribbon may be attached to the inside of a pocket or anyother place where the syringe is kept for emergency cases.

In operating this syringe the patient grasps the syringe about thesleeve 93 and pulls the syringe from the place of Stora-ge whereby pin72 is automatically pulled out. He

Also in this case the tubular body .4 now strikes the syringe with thefront wall 57 against thc spot of the body where injection shall bemade. When the top of the syringe strikes the body the sleeve 93 willcontinue a short distance sliding on tube 51. Thereby the tongues 94will be pulled out from their engagement with the tip 96 of the stemwhich latter is thus released so that spring 77 can force plunger 19forwardly' so as to carry out the injection procedure as describedabove. Fig. 6 illustrates the syringe after use and shows clearlyreceptacle 5 in its collapsed state. In case the spring should fail tofunction the front portion 52 can be unscrewed from the rear portion 51and the injection be carried out by pressing the receptacle 5 asdescribed above. The seam between the portions 51 and 52 shall be nearthe place where receptacle 5 is housed.

In all the embodiments referred to hereinabove all parts but for theneedle 14 can be 'and are preferably made of artilicia-l resin. Thesyringe can thus be made from relatively cheap material and can bethrown away after use. It is also an advantage that such material allowsfor a neat appearance and that the syringe can be made transparent.

As will be clearly understood the automatic syringes described can haveall their vital parts in well sterilized condition as the interior ofthe tubular body is well closed.

In the above description reference has been made to an injection needleprojecting partly forwardly and partly rearwardly of the needle holder.It will be understood, however, that the needle can consist of twoseparate parts one of which is litted in the needle holder projectingrearwardly therefrom. The frontal needle part, the actual injectionneedle, may then be secured to the syringe in front of the needle holderand means for communication between the needles be arranged between thetwo needle parts.

What is claimed is:

l. A hypodermic syringe comprising a tubular body, a rst end wall atleast partially closing the rear end of said tubular body, a second endwall closing the other end of said tubular body and having at least acentral portion which is perforatable by a hypodermic needle, a needleholder slidably mounted within the end of said tubular body adjacentsaid second end wall, an injection needle carried by said needle holder,said needle extending both forwardly and rearwardly from said holder andhaving puncturing points on both ends; extensible spring meanspositioned within said tubular body in the end thereof adjacent saidfirst end wall, means for locking said spring means in compressedposition, a compressible ampoule adapted to contain injectable liquidpositioned within said tubular body between said spring means and saidneedle holder, and means for releasing said locking means, whereby saidspring means applies pressure to said ampoule which in turn appliespressure to said needle holder resulting in the perforation of saidsecond end wall by one end of said needle, the perforation of saidampoule by the other end of said needle and the compression of saidampoule and the discharge of the injectable liquid through said needle.

2. A hypodermic syringe as defined in claim l in which said compressibleampoule is accordion-shaped.

3. A hypodermic syringe as defined in claim l in which said second endwall has a needle guiding sleeve extending rearwardly therefrom andsurrounding said perforatable central portion thereof.

4. A hypodermic syringe as defined in claim 3 in which the front end `0fsaid needle holder has a socket adapted to receive said needle guidingsleeve.

5. A hypodermic syringe as defined in claim l in which the front end ofsaid ampoule is frusto conical and the rear surface of said needleholder contains a frusto conical recess adapted to receive the frustoconical from end of said ampoule.

6. A hypodermic syringe as defined in claim l in which said means forlocking said spring means comprises ampoule, said ampoule having atransverse rib on the rearv end thereof and said plunge".- having atransverse slot in the front surface thereof adapted to receive saidrib.

7. A hypodermic needle as defined in claim 1 in which said rst end wallis provided with an opening and in which said means for locking saidspring means comprises a plunger positioned between said spring meansand said ampoule, a stern extending rearwardly from said plunger, andmeans for securing said stem with respect to said irst end Wall.

8. A hypodermic syringe as delined in claim 7 in which said tubular bodycomprises a cylindrical portion and a tapered rear end portion and inwhich the means for locking said spring means comprises a sleeveslidable on the cylindrical portion of said tubular body and extendingover said tapered end, said sleeve having inwardly projecting tonguesadjacent its rear end extending into en- 6 gagement with the smallestportion of said tapered end and shoulders on said stem adapted to engagesaid tongues, whereby when said sleeve is moved forwardly said tonguesare deected against said tapered rear end and said plunger is released.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS159,192 Leiter Ian. 26, 1875 1,921,034 LaMarche Aug. 8, 1933 2,309,502Douglas Ian. 26, 1943 2,627,856 Waterman Feb. 10, 1953 2,642,064 LawsheJune 16, 1953 2,752,918 Uytenbogaart July 3, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS1,103,541 France May 25, 1955

